Hello, everyone. WaterDragonMaverick here with my next chapter of "Palisman Café". Last time, the members of the Owl House all enjoyed the local carnival and Eda met up with her ex-lover, Raine Whispers. After some fun and games, it's time we focus on adapting an episode I love so much! It's time for this AU's version of "Understanding Willow". This is one of my favorite episodes, so I've got some interesting plans for adapting it in this story. We'll finally see some improvement between Amity and Willow after the tension that's been seen with them lately. Time for Luz to help her friends!
Tell me how you feel.
The Owl House was created by Dana Terrace and is owned by Disney.
It was a typical day at Hexside and Amity was reading a book while leaning against some lockers. Next to her, Boscha was choosing what type of press-on nails to wear. "Too wiggly," she said as she dismissed a purple and green set. "Too obvious," she groaned as she avoided a flame pattern. "Now we're talking," she exclaimed as she chose a set of nails that resembled talons. "I think today is a talons day. Rawr!"
"You go with whatever you want. I deal with enough talons at the Owl House anyway," Amity remarked as she brought up her job at Palisman Café and remembered all the times Hooty grabbed her by the arm to bring her to the café faster.
"Hey, girls," Skara greeted as she walked up to Boscha and Amity, who closed her book as the dark-skinned girl arrived. "Time to bug out at my birthday party," she told them as she revealed a handful of red butterfly-shaped invitations that read 'Skara's 15th'. "Invite only. But you girls are my VIPs," she told her friends.
"Are these made of real insect wings," Amity asked, mistaking the detailed invitations for actual butterflies until she got a closer look at the invite Skara gave her.
"Nah, they're just super detailed. My dad spared no expense. You only turn 15 once," Skara said.
"You only turn every age once, Skara," Boscha remarked in a deadpan tone.
Suddenly, the three girls turned to look in the direction of Luz and Willow when they heard the Latina loudly exclaim something. "1, 2, 3, 4! I declare a thumb war," Luz said as she and Willow began to thumb wrestle.
"It's fun because it's stupid," Willow said with a laugh as she and Luz kept 'fighting'.
As the three girls watched Luz and Willow's game, Boscha spoke up. "It's so weird that the Owl Girl goes here now. Too bad she's already burned her social life at the stake. Any friend of Willow's is an automatic dork," the pink-haired girl stated.
Hearing this, Amity ignored Boscha's words before Skara spoke up. "I don't know. Luz is a pretty nice girl. I'm sure she and Willow aren't that bad," she voiced, which caught the attention of Luz and Willow.
"Are you kidding? Halfwit was so incompetent at her schoolwork for most of Hexside that she only spent time around that kid who skipped two grades and her plants," Boscha said before holding up her fingers around her eyes to resemble Willow's glasses. "Look at me. I'm going on a date with my ferns."
Hearing that and Skara laughing at the imitation, Willow felt upset at Boscha's ridicule. "Hey! At least she can get a date, unlike you, Boscha," Luz exclaimed.
Immediately after Luz said that, Boscha turned toward the Dominican girl and nearly tripped on her own feet. The action and retort made Amity and Skara hold back their laughter. "You wanna say that to my face, weirdo?"
"Leave them alone, Boscha," Amity stated. "Let's just get going. There's no point in messing with Luz and Willow."
"Hey, Amity. Weren't you friends with Willow," Skara asked curiously.
Hearing Skara's question, Amity nearly ended up dropping her book in shock, but caught it before it even fell out of her arms. "I'm a Blight. We only associate with a select few," she responded. "Keep annoying me, girls. I'm happy to select fewer."
Hearing this, both girls were silenced easily, but Boscha only gave a smug look to Skara. "Oh, I could have sworn you guys hung out," Skara said to Amity.
"I used to. Not anymore," Amity stated, upsetting Willow more. "I'll stop spending time with both of you if you give me a reason to," she added, looking more at Boscha rather than Skara and making the message clear.
As the three girls walked away, Luz put her hand on her friend's shoulder. "Don't let them get to you, Willow. Let's focus on photo class. I didn't know that you guys had high-tech computers that could scan your memories and recreate pictures from them. I'm gonna see me some baby Willow!"
"I will admit I was adorable," Willow said to her friend, but was still upset about what Amity, Boscha, and Skara were talking about.
Inside the photography classroom, Luz and Willow were getting to work on checking their memories out thanks to a headband Willow was wearing called a 'neural interface'. With it wirelessly synced up to the computer, Luz was able to bring pictures of Willow's memories onto the screen. "Okay, memory melon. Let's see if we can get a juicy one," Luz voiced as she entered the command and the image on the screen slowly developed.
"Be careful with my brain," Willow said as she turned to look at the memory developing.
"She's right, Miss Noceda. These neural interface headbands work both ways, so be careful what you click," the teacher said as she approached Luz and Willow. "Now as you work, take note that some prints have greater clarity than others. These higher quality pictures are a result of a deep emotional connection with that memory."
"All the colors of the brainbow," Luz said in awe as the teacher left, then she saw the photo finish developing. "Oh my gosh, Willow! You had an awkward hair phase, too? I knew we were meant to be friends," Luz said as she saw the photo of a younger blushing Willow with an awkward haircut for what seemed to be a school picture day, then held up a physical photograph of herself as a kid with her hair in three long braids sticking in random directions.
"Do you always carry that with you, Luz," Willow questioned.
"Nah, I only brought it because of photo class today," Luz admitted before the other picture files finished developing. "Ooh, there's more," she said as she saw the pictures. There were pictures of a young Willow playing on a swing set with her dads, feeding a cow at a farm, and opening presents on Christmas morning with her dads. But the final picture that developed made Luz gasp when it showed a younger and brown-haired Amity Blight giving Willow a big hug at a birthday party.
"Ugh, that one," Willow groaned as she turned away and crossed her arms, not liking the sight of her memory with Amity.
"Hey, I know that you and Amity have a history. Wouldn't you feel better talking about it," Luz told Willow, wanting to help since she didn't want either of her friends being upset and knew that it wouldn't be good for when they all had a shift at the café.
"No, I'd rather do this," Willow stated as she minimized the picture of her and Amity. "There. Out of sight, out of mind. That's my motto after all."
Soon, the bell rang and the other student began to leave the classroom. Willow was about to remove her headband and do the same when Luz interrupted her. "If you won't tell me what she did, I'll never be able to cook up a scheme to make you two friends again."
"Luz, I get it. You don't want me and Amity to be at each other's throats, but I don't want you to do that," Willow told her friend. "No schemes, no plots, no ruses. None of them, okay? Now, let's get to lunch," she voiced as she left the room.
As Willow left, Luz looked back at the computer and smirked to herself. "She never did mention anything about shenanigans," she said to herself as she clicked the birthday picture again, allowing it to be visible on the screen again. "Or ploys. Oh, or gambits. Shams and conspiracies, too. Man, those creative writing dictionaries are really helping with my vocabulary," she muttered to herself as she left the room, not realizing that Willow forgot to remove the neural interface headband and return it. "Wait up, Willow," Luz shouted as she ran after her best friend.
When Luz left the classroom, Amity and Boscha were passing by the opened door. "I can't believe I made him cry. Isn't he the teacher," Boscha said as she was telling an uninterested Amity about her last class.
Looking at the classroom, Amity paused when she saw the pictures of Willow on the computer. Her eyes widened when she saw the photo of her and Willow as kids. "Oh no," she whispered to herself.
"Why do you look like you've seen a ghost," Boscha asked as she turned to see Amity apparently spacing out. "Is there a ghost in photo class? Are they cute?"
Panicking, but staying calm, Amity blocked Boscha's eyes and entered the room. "Yup. Just a super cute ghost. But I saw them first and they're all mine," she said before shutting the door.
"Ask if they have any friends," Boscha said through the door, then left the area.
Running toward the computer and seeing the photo, Amity frowned and looked upset at the happy memory. "I'm sorry, Willow. But I have to do this," she said to herself. Moving the cursor over the delete button, Amity sighed before clicking it. Unfortunately, the option to delete every picture file was checked and it was too late for Amity to stop the deletion process. "No, no, no, no, no, no!" Watching the files get erased, Amity desperately tried to stop the command before seeing a pop-up. "Huh? 'Warning: Neural Interface connection still active'? Oh no!"
At the cafeteria, Gus was looking over a board he brought with him and tapped a marker against his chin as Luz arrived with her lunch. "Hey there, detective. You trying to solve a crime or commit one? If the second, you may want to talk with Eda," Luz joked as she saw the notes on the board and Gus' panicking expression.
"This is a problem no crime can solve," Gus stated. "I'm trying to find out who to interview for my journalism class assignment. I have to choose somebody that's interesting, accomplished, and noteworthy. No one person is meant to be all of those things! And my project is due tomorrow! Curse you, Augustus Porter! Curse you and your need for perfection," he exclaimed before Luz shoved a straw into his mouth and he took a big sip of juice to calm down.
"So, Willow... Wow, are you feeling okay," Luz asked as she turned to her friend, only to see her holding her head and sweating profusely.
"When did it get so hot," Willow asked as she held her cheek, feeling the sweat drip between her fingers. Gulping down a cup of water, Willow tried to cool herself off before she saw sweat dripping onto her glasses. Cleaning them off and putting them back on, Luz and Gus watched as her eyes dilated so much that they were black instead of their usual green color. "Uh, hi. I'm Willow. Remind me of your names," the Korean girl said as she stuck her hand out to Luz and Gus, as if she was offering a handshake.
"Willow, clowning around won't get you anywhere," Gus said, still trying to take his journalism assignment seriously.
"I'm... I'm serious. Who are you," Willow asked, sounding scared and tilting her head.
Hearing that, Luz was getting suspicious before she noticed the headband Willow was wearing. With a gasp, she knew what was happening. "Gus, Willow's still wearing the neural interface from photo class! Something happened to the memory pictures," she exclaimed before she bolted out of the cafeteria and back toward the classroom she was just in moments ago.
Opening the door, Gus and Luz barged into the room while Willow followed them in a loopy state. "Hexside Free Press! What's going on in here," Gus exclaimed, wanting answers and a possible interview.
Luz gasped as she saw Amity frantically working on the computer the Dominican girl was previously using. "No, no, no, no! Why is it set to automatically delete everything," questioned Amity before she saw Luz and the others. "Hi," she responded nervously and with guilt heavy in her voice.
"You destroyed Willow's memories!? She forgot to take off the headband and you burned her brain," Luz exclaimed, upset that her friend would do that.
"I tried to save them, but this stupid computer must have been messed with before you and Willow used it," Amity stated, gesturing to the screen before the picture of Willow's bad hair day was deleted. "Oh, come on!"
After Amity's outburst, she and Luz turned when they heard Willow giggling. The girl was leaning against the door and looked at her fingers as she wiggled them. "Have I always had this crazy thing," the Korean girl asked with a dopey smile before smacking herself in the face. "Blap. Blap." Luz, Amity, and Gus all looked at Willow oddly before she stumbled over to the girls. "I can tell we're gonna be good friends," she told Luz and Amity as she put her arms around their shoulders, only to fall to the floor laughing.
"And now, she's basically drunk! This day is just horrible," Amity groans before hitting her head against the nearby wall.
"Hey, I don't need you getting your head messed with, too," Luz told the green-haired girl. "We need to talk with Principal Bump and go to Eda. Maybe she has an answer to fixing Willow's memories."
Amity sighed as she watched Luz and Gus pick up Willow and carry her out the door. "Okay, I'll talk to him. I'll meet you at the Owl House soon after," she said.
Immediately when Principal Bump was told about the situation, he allowed the four students to skip their afternoon classes and go to Palisman Café, where Eda was speaking with Lilith about a few things before the children arrived. "So, you deleted Willow's memories while she was wearing a neural interface and erased everything. That's basically the same as lighting her brain on fire," Eda remarked. "Even minor damage on a mind can have huge effects," she added while Willow attempted to sit on the couch head first next to a napping King. "Yeah, her brain's burned up real good. The damage done could change everything about someone. Willow may never be the same again."
"Luckily, I have the solution for such a problem," Lilith said as she turned on a laptop she carried. "We'll need two of you to enter your friend's mind with a different set of neural interfaces and interact with the remnants of her memories, fixing the damage done and restoring her mind."
Hearing this, Luz gasped and practically had stars in her eyes. "Be still, my fantasy-loving heart. I've always wanted to do something like this! Thank you, crazy sci-fi technology. This'll be just like Psychonauts!"
"Psycho-whats," asked Lilith.
"It's a game where the main character is a psychic that explores the minds of people with mental conditions to help them fight their inner demons. I love it, even if the graphics of the first game are dated," Luz explained.
"No matter how you see it as, it won't be easy. You have a lot to fix in there 'cause it's a mess," Eda stated as she helped Lilith set up the computer and neural interfaces. "Yup. Whoever did this to Willow showed unbelievable disregard for her safety. Downright despicable." Hearing what Eda said, Amity only flinched at her words before the Owl Lady turned to the green-haired girl. "Oh right, it was an accident you caused," Eda said, unintentionally making Amity feel worse. "Anyway, we have two headbands to connect to Willow's brain. Luz, who's going in with you?"
Luz turned to see Gus was too busy focusing on who to interview for his journalism class project. "Gus has a lot on his plate. Amity, you have to go with me," she told her guilty friend.
Amity looked away in sadness and guilt as she spoke to Luz. "Willow might not want me in there. Things are... complicated between us."
"You basically set everything in your old friend's head on fire. You have to help," Luz told Amity.
"Actually, if Amity knows about more of Willow's memories, that might be more beneficial than you think," Lilith said while Eda gave Willow a cup of tea to help the girl sleep for the process to start effectively. "If Amity remembers enough of the memories she's inside of, then you can fix them easier."
With Luz stating that she had a responsibility to help Willow and Lilith saying the practical reasons for Amity assisting, Amity sighed. "Okay, I'll do what I can," Amity said before Willow yawned loudly and went to sleep on the couch.
"The two of you sit by Willow and wear these," Lilith said as she gave the two girls the neural interface headbands. Putting them on, but still feeling nervous, Amity saw Luz offering her hand for comfort. With the two girls holding hands, they prepared to dive into Willow's mind.
"Bold choice with taking the girl who caused this mess," Eda remarked. "We'll be monitoring you on Lily's laptop, so if we see anything going wrong or when it's all finished, we'll pull you out." Nodding, Luz and Amity sat down next to Willow, ready to start their mental mission. "Oh, and keep an eye out for her Inner Willow. Everyone has a version of themselves that's a gatekeeper of emotions and memory. She might help you."
"Also, you'll want to be careful with what you do in the mindscape," Lilith warned. "If you suffer too much harm in there, your minds will be affected."
Hearing that, Luz and Amity gulped. "You mean we could die," Luz asked in fear.
"No, you won't," Lilith answered. "Go into a coma, maybe. But I'll keep an eye on everything and make sure nothing happens to you girls."
"Yeah, otherwise it would look bad for your company, Lily," Eda snidely remarked.
"Not everything is about Imperial Industries, Edalyn," Lilith responded. "Let's just start fixing a young girl's mind."
Eda rolled her eyes before helping her employees get their friend's mind back in order. "Now, here we go," Eda declared as she pressed a key on the laptop, linking the minds of Amity, Willow, and Luz. When she did, all three girls now fell unconscious and the others all watched over them for their safety.
Inside the mindscape, Luz and Amity watched as their surroundings became an endless dark void before a set of three doors appeared. One was purple, one was pink, and the third was green. The green door soon opened up and a flash of light blinded them momentarily. When their vision became clear again, they saw that they were standing in a forest with trees that had portrait frames in the center of the trunks. "Wow. Just like Psychonauts," Luz remarked as the environment reminded her of the artistic worlds of the game she mentioned.
"Where's her Inner Willow," Amity questioned as the only things she saw were trees and dark paintings. "Do you really think it'll help?"
"I don't know. But like a number of games, we'll just have to figure things out for ourselves and start fixing stuff on our own," Luz declared. "Hmm... Now, let's see," Luz said to herself as she walked up to a burnt tree. Seeing the frame in the trunk was covered in fresh ash of sorts, Luz blew a puff of air and the ash went flying away to reveal a monochrome photo of an old homemade fort on a beach. Intrigued by the picture, Luz went to touch the image before her hand slowly went inside of the frame like it was a window. "Hey, I think I found something important," Luz said before grabbing the frame. "I wanna put my face in it," she said with a laugh before putting her head through the picture.
Entering the portrait, Luz chuckled before Amity showed up at the same tree. "Luz? Luz! Where are you," Amity called out before Luz stuck her face out of the fort picture.
"I think I found a memory. Let's go," Luz said while grabbing Amity's wrist and pulling her into the picture. "This is just like one of the Mario games I played with my older cousins," she said before landing on the ground with Amity. "Whoo! Welcome to Willow's beauti... ful memory?" Luz's previous enthusiasm died on the last two words as she saw the dreary gray colors and glitchy landscape before her.
Amity immediately recognized the area in the memory as she stood up. "Lake Lacuna. This is where Willow and I took swimming lessons," she told Luz before seeing the glitchy space in the air. "These glitches must be from deleting the pictures," she realized before noticing something on the beach and gasped. "Our fort! I remember this," she said as she and Luz approached the old fort. "One time, Willow wanted to play hooky from our swimming lessons, so we built this," she said, removing stray ropes and boards that didn't fit with the structure.
"Forts, hooky, Willow. Can words get any cuter," Luz asked as she was imagining how Willow and Amity used to be as kids in this memory.
As she was removing everything that didn't fit, Amity continued her story. "We knew the swim teacher would be looking for us, but Willow said she would keep us safe with a second curtain to hide us," she said before taking away the final board of driftwood.
Seeing the fort resembling what it did in the picture, Amity and Luz smiled. "It's like a little doghouse for angels," Luz exclaimed.
Looking over it again, Amity noticed something wrong. "Wait. Something's missing." Looking down at her feet, the Blight saw a little flag that said 'A+W' on it lying in the sand. Brushing away the sand and picking it up, Amity felt fondness and nostalgia as she remembered that day, smiling before she placed the flag in a cup on the front of the fort. "There."
Immediately when the flag was settled, a flash of light sent the two girls back to the forest and the tree seemed to be alive and green once again. Not only that, but the portrait was now in color. "We're back. I think fixing the fort fixed the memory," Luz said before she and Amity watched the photo come to life like a video.
In the memory, a younger Amity with brown hair and a younger Willow were laughing as they went into their fort. "Ugh, the seagulls are back again," Young Amity complained, not wanting the fort to be ruined.
"Don't worry. I'll get rid of them," Young Willow said as she tried to startle the birds. Unfortunately, she only made the birds fly into the fort. Their screams of surprise ended up alerting their swim coach and he took the girls back to their lesson. "I'm sorry," Young Willow apologized to Amity.
"This place is like a theater showing her most important moments," Luz theorized after the memory ended. "Let's go fix some more. And I know which one we should go with next," she exclaimed as she rushed to the biggest tree in the forest. "The photo that started it all."
Seeing the image of the birthday party, Amity's eyes went wide with fear and she tried to keep Luz away from it. "Wait! If you want important moments, this one might be about a crush," Amity said with a nervous smile, gesturing to the picture of Willow with a messy haircut that Luz saw in the photo class earlier.
Hearing that, Luz immediately went away from the birthday picture. "Don't mind if I do," she declared before following Amity into the next picture. But as they did, something was watching them and it stomped a foot on the ground, leaving a pink glitchy spot like fire.
Back at Palisman Café, the girls were peacefully sleeping as Amity and Luz kept working on fixing Willow's memories. But while they did that, Gus was still wondering who would be the perfect person to interview for his project. "Nobody can give me the interview I need. It's not like I can actually interview myself," the boy said.
Clearing her throat, Eda brought Gus' attention to her. "If you need an interview, look no further. Interesting? Noteworthy? Accomplished? I'm a woman with pet owls running an animal café," she stated as Owlbert and Hooty sounded out and landed on her extended arms.
"Ha! Please. A simple café with a gimmick like that? Anyone could ask you if they went scared of you," Lilith retorted. "As for me, I'm involved with numerous projects in Imperial Industries and I can share my views on what's already public."
Thinking it over, Gus decided that either of the Clawthorne sisters would be perfect for his interview assignment. "I will choose one of you. But which one? If you want to get picked, you'll have to impress me," Gus stated.
"I'll give you a raise," Eda immediately declared.
"You can't bribe a child, Edalyn," scolded Lilith.
"He's my employee. I can give him money if I wanted," Eda countered. "Besides, what would you have given him?"
Lilith glared at Eda for a minute before finally averting her eyes and muttering something they managed to her. "A first look at the updates to Dimensional Duel..."
Seeing that this would get interesting, Gus went to gather what he needed for whoever he would interview.
Back in the mindscape, Amity and Luz were busy working on fixing up Willow's memories. With what Luz saw in the photo class before and Amity's involvement in many parts of Willow's childhood, the girls were able to fix up several things. They were able to repair a swing set that Young Willow and her dads played on, fixed the library where Young Amity and Willow were reading 13+ young adult romance novels, and even fixed up a sign for a roller coaster before seeing the two girls get on after Amity saved Willow a spot. "AAAAAHH! I don't feel so good," Young Willow exclaimed just before the loops of the coaster.
"We don't need to see how this one ends," Luz said as she flipped the photo around, not wanting to see Willow get sick on the ride.
"Yeah, Willow threw up a lot that day," Amity admitted. "That's when you knew she was having fun."
"Eww. I mean, aww," Luz said before seeing Amity looking upset with herself. "Hey, you okay?"
"Yeah, I just... I can't believe I almost erased everything. I really messed things up," she told Luz.
"Don't worry. We've gotten really good at fixing memories. I won't rest until we've got this all sorted out," Luz stated. "Repeat after me. 'We can fix this together.' Come on."
Seeing Luz's positivity, Amity couldn't help but blush and smile as she rubbed the back of her head. "We can fix this together."
"Heck yeah, we can," Luz exclaimed before becoming more serious. "I know some of these memories are painful for you because you two aren't friends anymore. What happened to you guys? And why are you trying to hide it? You did try to delete at least one picture and you're avoiding that big one."
Amity looked at her feet before she faced Luz. "It's just... there's a lot involved with it," Amity said before she heard something walking behind Luz. Looking past the Dominican girl, Amity saw what appeared to be a large walking tree covered in pink pixels that looked like fire. "What's that!?"
Turning around to see what Amity pointed at, Luz saw nothing before turning back to the Blight. "Look, if you don't want to talk about it, you just need to say so," Luz said before heading to the next memory to fix up.
"No, I actually saw something," Amity stated. "At least, I think I did," she muttered as she rubbed the back of her head.
"If you need me, I shall be fixing this memory of a ball pit," Luz said as she began to enter the next ruined picture of Amity and Willow's childhood.
"WAIT, that's not..."
Immediately after entering the picture, Luz popped her head back out with an eggshell on her head. "It's eggs. I-it's full of eggs. Why is this memory full of eggs?!"
"Yeah, that one's hard to explain. It started as an Easter egg hunt, but it spiraled out of control," Amity began to say as she entered the memory to help Luz.
Back in the Owl House, Eda and Lilith were sitting at a table Gus set up for his interview with one of the sisters. "Just give up, Lily. I've got this," Eda told her sister.
"You've got nothing. An interview with me would be the highlight of any journalist, professional or student," Lilith stated smugly before the sisters saw the lights turn off.
Soon after, Gus started to shine a flashlight at the Clawthorne women, forcing them to shield their eyes. "If you want this interview, you're going to have to start answering some tough questions," Gus stated before shining the light in Lilith's face. "Where were you born?"
"Huh?"
"What did you eat for breakfast this morning," Gus questioned Eda, shining the light in her face.
"What," Eda questioned as she was confused by the fact he was asking that.
"What's your greatest strength," Gus asked King, forgetting that he wasn't a possible interview candidate.
"My decisiveness," the dog declared and Gus turned away. "W-wait! Wait, I changed my mind!"
Standing up on the table, Gus spoke to the Clawthorne sisters again. "This will be the single greatest interview of all time. If you want it, you'll have to dazzle me," Gus told them as he turned off his flashlight and tosses a handful of stage magic flash powder in the air.
As the sparks danced in the air, Eda turned to Lilith and King. "The kid scares me."
"Agreed," Lilith said.
Exiting the memory of the egg hunt, Amity helped Luz remove an eggshell from her head. "We're getting pretty good at fixing these," Amity stated.
"Yeah. And there's only one last memory to fix," Luz said as she turned to face the largest tree in the forest. "The one you're suspiciously avoiding."
"Me? Avoid? No. But let's skip it. How do we get out of here," Amity said, ready to run away from the tree, but Luz easily kept her in place with one hand.
"I know this is amusing coming from me, but Amity, you gotta stop being weird," Luz said. "We gotta fix all of them." But as Luz turned to look at the tree with the corrupted picture of Amity and Willow at that party, she started to realize something. "Unless... there's something in there you don't want me to see. Or something you don't want to see again," she theorized as she turned to Amity, who was looking away and crossing her arms. "I'm not here to judge. I just want to heal my friend. Willow needs to recover and we're the only ones who help."
Amity soon felt Luz's hand on her shoulder, but she brushed it away. "Help? All you're doing is prying into your friends' lives," Amity deflected harshly, making Luz upset despite her knowing that it was Amity's meddling with the photos that brought them into this mess. "Well, did you ever think maybe it's none of your business," Amity said, still shifting focus away from her until she saw Luz's dejected expression change to one of surprise. "Luz? Is something wrong?" Wondering what Luz was reacting to, Amity soon sniffed the air. "Is something burning?"
Turning to the forest, the girls gasped as they saw the memories they previously were burning with pink pixels. "Look," Luz exclaimed as she pointed to something emerging from the trees. A large hand grabbed the edge of a tree and left a scorch mark of pixels before the being revealed itself. Looking like a walking tree with pink pixels burning away at its body, the creature's black eyes narrowed as it charged at the girls.
Seeing the footprints it left behind were burning at the grass, Amity grabbed Luz for their safety. "Hide, hide, hide!" As the girls went behind the tree, the creature stopped in front of it and entered the memory rather than circle around to get the girls.
Leaving their hiding spot, Luz and Amity soon saw the picture become corrupted. "Oh no, this thing is ruining all the memories," Luz exclaimed.
"Eda and Lilith should have pulled us out by now if this is happening," Amity exclaimed, shaking Luz around frantically.
"Yeah, Eda's not super reliable," Luz admitted, remembering several instances of Eda flaking on her or customers. Seeing the pink pixels overtaking the tree, Luz grabbed Amity's wrist and pulled her to safety. "Run!"
When the creature emerged from the tree, it went to another photo and entered that memory. "Why is it destroying all the photos," Amity questioned.
"I don't know," Luz replied as she looked around, then noticed something. "Hey, that one hasn't been touched," she said as she saw the picture Willow playing with her dads was still pristine. "Or that one," she added as she saw the Christmas picture. Turning to see one of the burnt pictures, Luz gasped as she saw that it was the photo of Willow and Amity in the young adult romance section of the library. "Amity, that thing isn't after the photos, it's after you," Luz realized as she grabbed Amity's shoulders.
Upon hearing that, Amity looked at the monster that turned towards her. "What!?"
Seeing the monster chase after them with a roar, Luz pushed Amity towards the photo of Amity and Willow's fort on the beach. "I have an idea. Just trust me and get in," she told the girl. When both of them were inside the memory, Luz went toward the picture frame and removed it from the tree. "Time for a swimming lesson," Luz said as she and Amity moved the frame toward the water. When they got the photo toward the end of the dock, the monster emerged from the frame and panicked as it saw the water. With a big splash and a lot of steam, Luz cheered as the girls were able to defend themselves. "Woo! Teamwork, baby," the Latina exclaimed as she gave Amity a big hug.
Amity blushed at the physical contact and how close Luz squished her cheek against her own, but soon looked at the water. "Luz, it's still here," Amity said, making Luz release her as they soon saw what was in the lake. Rather than a tree-like monster being in the steamy water, the being that stood in front of them took the form of Willow Park. "Are you... the Inner Willow," Amity asked as she and Luz eyed the girl in front of them, who was covered in pink pixels like the embers of a dying fire.
"I was," she said with an echo in her voice as her eyes turned dark purple and she walked toward the girls on the shore. "Love, sadness, fear. I used to be a being made of all emotion," Inner Willow said as she stepped onto the sand, which became corrupted and covered in pink fiery pixels. "But ever since you deleted Willow's memories, all I can feel is ANGER," she exclaimed, releasing bursts of fire from her hands that torched several trees and the fort on the beach.
Seeing the damage being done to Willow's mind by her own inner self, Luz and Amity were shocked and scared. "Please, stop," Luz cried out.
"But Amity wanted this," Inner Willow said as a wall of pixels appeared in front of her. When they changed color, Luz and Amity saw it was the picture that the latter wanted to delete originally. "Every moment she touched, I'm going to delete!"
"You're just hurting Willow like this! Why are you even doing this," Amity questioned, trying to reason with Willow's inner self.
"You still haven't figured it out yet," Inner Willow said as her eyes turned black. "Then I'll show you. We're going on a trip down memory lane," she told the girls as she threw the picture at both of them. When they went into the frame and went into the final memory, Inner Willow vanished in a cloud of pixels along with the frame.
After Inner Willow sent them through the portrait, Amity landed on a bed and bounced onto her feet while Luz rocketed through the air and crashed into a wall headfirst. "Ow. I'm okay," Luz said as she stood back up. "Where are we," Luz asked as she looked at the room they were in.
Seeing several familiar items, Amity recognized the location of the memory. "My bedroom," she said sadly.
Emerging from the picture frame on the wall, Inner Willow floated down toward the girls while Amity pulled Luz back for safety. "You said I was hurting Willow," Inner Willow told Amity as her eyes were back to their normal color. "I was only finishing what you started at your birthday all that time ago!" With a wave of pink fire, Inner Willow repaired the burnt room to a fully restored state, with only a pink tint to show it wasn't normal like the previously repaired memories.
Seeing the bedroom door open, Luz, Amity, and Inner Willow watched the memory play out. "You have to get out, Willow. Now," Young Amity said as she and Young Willow entered the room.
"Wait, why," Young Willow asked, confused as to why her friend didn't want at the party. Young Amity stammered as she tried to say something, but Young Willow spoke up. "Is it because I got us in trouble? Ami, I'm... I'm sorry about what happened at the beach. I thought that I was good enough," she said as she held her friend's arm and tried to apologize.
"Well, yeah... you aren't," Young Amity said, pulling away from Willow. "Because you aren't gifted like I am. If you aren't good at anything, then I don't want to be your friend. Now, go!"
As the guardian of Willow's mind dismissed the younger girls, Luz looked at how different the faces of the girls were in the memory and the situation now. Young Amity's scowl vanished to show Amity's resigned frown while Young Willow's tearful expression faded to show Inner Willow's fury. "Then you let your new friends pick on her for years. All because you thought Willow was just some half-wit who barely got into Hexside. If you didn't pick on her yourself, then you just sat by for 8 years and let others bully her," Inner Willow said. "You're nothing but a virus, Amity. Nothing but a blight on my life! You really do live up to your family name," she voiced as she floated in the air and her eyes turned pitch black. "Since you're in here with that headband, I can erase the pain you inflicted on Willow forever. After all, out of sight, out of mind."
As pixeled flames began to spread around Amity, Luz freaked before she realized something. "Wait! Something's not right about that memory," she told Inner Willow. "Everything I saw before, the two of you were best friends. But in this one, little Amity seemed... hesitant. Like she just agreed with Willow's guess. Amity, what actually happened before you and Willow stopped being friends? We're here to help Willow and if you're at the center of it all, we need the whole truth. One thing I know from a few mental worlds in Psychonauts is that nothing is immediately what it seems."
Amity sighed as she knew Luz was right about the memory. "I was a coward back then," she admitted, confusing Inner Willow and she made the flames go away. "Back when you came to my 6th birthday party... before all this started, there was something else," Amity said before a knocking sound was heard.
Looking at the door, it changed to the same pink door that Amity and Luz saw when they first arrived in the mindscape. "Amity," said a man's voice before the door opened to reveal a man with brown hair and a black outfit. Next to him was a woman with green hair in a bun wearing some white and purple attire. Both of them were speaking to Amity at the party while younger versions of Edric and Emira seemed to be hiding just out of sight from their parents.
"What is Willow doing here," asked Amity's mother. "She wasn't on the guest list for a reason."
"But she's my best friend," Young Amity said, surprising Inner Willow as her eyes returned to normal again. After hearing that, Inner Willow returned to the ground and watched the memory from Amity's perspective.
"Nonsense," said Amity's father. "Blights only associate with the most gifted of people. You may choose a new friend from the suitable companions we invited," he told Amity, gesturing to a younger Boscha and Skara, who looked bored.
"But they're mean! At least Boscha is," Young Amity said. "Just because you work with their parents doesn't mean I have to like them," she told her parents, crossing her arms and looking away.
"Good children don't squabble, dear," Amity's mom told her. "Sever your ties with Willow, and if you don't..."
"Then we will," Amity's dad voiced.
Hearing that her parents were blackmailing her into breaking off her friendship with Willow, Young Amity gasped. "What!?"
"Because we're part of the Parent-Teacher Association, we'll make sure she is never admitted into Hexside if you don't do as we say," Amity's mother said. "Now, go. And try not to make a scene," she instructed as the door closed, ending Amity's memory.
When the door shut, Inner Willow's anger died and she felt tears falling down her face. Luz, on the other hand, looked like she was ready to rip somebody's head off. "YOUR MOM BLACKMAILED YOU INTO LEAVING WILLOW!? I can't believe this! I swear, when I tell Mama about that witch, she'll slap her so hard with her shoe that she'll be seeing stars for weeks," Luz exclaimed, absolutely livid that her friends were forced apart at such a young age.
"I know," Amity said to Luz before facing Inner Willow. "Willow, you were always good enough to be my friend. But I was never enough to be yours," she told the manifestation of her old friend's memories and emotions. "I can't take back what I've done all those years ago and what happened until now, but I can promise you one thing." Amity reached into her pocket and pulled out the butterfly-styled invitation that Skara had given her. Then in one swift motion, she ripped it in half to emphasize her next words. "I won't let Boscha and her gang pick on you ever again."
Seeing the shreds of paper, Inner Willow then reached for Amity's hand and held it in her own. "I think Willow should keep her memories of you," the mental construct said. "The good and the bad. She and you can grow from them."
Amity nodded in agreement before Luz put her hand on the girl's shoulder. "Then if it's okay, Amity and I still have some work to do," Luz told Inner Willow. With the gatekeeper nodding, a flash of light enveloped them all and they left the memory of Amity's birthday.
With the girls all working together to fix Willow's mind, Luz and Amity soon watched as the largest tree in the mindscape grew flourishing and vibrantly green leaves. When everything was fixed up and Luz gave Amity the memory photo of that party, the two girls heard happy giggling behind them. They saw the younger version of Willow running around the forest, accidentally hitting her head against a trunk before laughing it off and returning into Willow's mind with Inner Willow. "Thank you for everything," Inner Willow told the two before disappearing into the woods.
After the Willows left, Luz spoke to Amity. "So, does this mean you and Willow are buddies again?"
"I'm not sure," Amity admitted, understandably cautious about how the real Willow would act around her now.
"Well, let's go see," Luz said as she noticed she and Amity were starting to slowly disappear from Willow's mindscape like fireflies blinking in and out of the night sky.
Back at the Owl House, Eda and Lilith were trying to see who was able to get the interview with Gus by showing off their various other traits. From showcasing musical talents to artistic creativity, Eda and Lilith kept trying to one-up each other before it all escalated to squabbles while arm wrestling. "Give it up, Lily! I'm stronger than you," Eda declared as she and Lilith were physically matched.
"I carry heavy projects through my lab all the time! I can win a simple arm-wrestling contest," Lilith exclaimed. As the two struggled to push the other's hand down, a beeping sound was heard from Lilith's laptop and distracted the older of the two sisters. "Huh?"
Taking her chance, Eda slammed her sister's hand onto the table and cheered. "Yeah! Hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo! Take that, prissy pants! Eda the Owl Lady takes the win as always," the café owner gloated before hearing the beeping for herself. Turning to see Luz sleeping next to Amity and Willow, Eda remembered what was happening before the Clawthorne Sisters got caught up in wanting to be interviewed by Gus. "Oh right, we put people in there," the Owl Lady said in a very casual tone.
"Let's put the interview on hold for now, Augustus," Lilith said as she rubbed her hand, then went to her computer.
Looking over what he took down during the contests between the two women, Gus came to a conclusion when he remembered another detail of his journalism class. "Actually, I think I should just interview you both," Gus said, making Eda slap her hand against her face with a groan.
"You should have told us in the first place," Eda complained.
"I was freaking out so much that I forgot that I could interview more than one person," Gus replied.
"I can forgive him for that," Lilith said as she made sure that Luz and the girls were waking up normally. "Remember when Raine was panicking over their report about classical musicians?"
"How could I forget? They were spazzing out so much I had to slap them just for a distraction," Eda remarked with a grin.
When Luz woke up and removed the headband from herself and Willow, she saw the mess around the café. "Whoa. What happened here," Luz asked, seeing feathers scattered everywhere with origami and bells on the table nearby as Amity removed her neural interface headband.
"I may have gone a little overboard with suggesting ideas for choosing which of the Clawthrones to interview before remembering my assignment never said it had to be just one person," Gus told Luz as King went upstairs to sleep.
"And because of that, you're dead to me," Eda said before she and Lilith went into the kitchen to have Gus interview them.
When only Luz and Amity were left with Willow, the Korean girl started to wake up and sat up from the couch. "Willow! Do you know who I am," Luz asked as she saw her friend was up.
"A friendly scarecrow," Willow replied in a questioning tone before bursting into a chuckle. "Just messing. I remember everything," she told Luz.
"She's back, folks! My girl's back," Luz happily exclaimed, immediately hugging her friend. "Never forget me again!"
"You're too memorable for that to happen," Willow said with a laugh. As Luz and Willow hugged, Amity sadly looked at her feet before she started to leave. When she opened the door, Luz looked at her and the green-haired girl waved before she left. But before she stepped out the door, Willow spoke up. "I remember what you did, too." Hearing Willow, Amity stopped and watched the girl point to her head. "What you did in there... I can't say we're friends again just yet, but it's... a start."
Amity smiled at Willow, glad to know that she's willing to give her a second chance after the horrible mistakes she made. "I mean it, Willow," Amity said as she pulled out the real version of Skara's invitation from her pocket, then tore it in half. "I won't let you be bullied anymore. Not by Boscha. Not my parents. No one."
"That means a lot, Amity," Willow says, knowing that her old friend will keep her word after everything that happened. "See you later."
"Okay," Amity said before she left the Owl House.
When they were left in the café, Willow turned to Luz. "Question, how did Amity see the picture and accidentally delete my brain?"
"Well, you never said anything about shenanigans," Luz told her friend, referring to their discussion at the end of the photo class. "Or ploys. Or gambits, shams, and conspiracies."
"Curse your excellent creative writing grades," Willow said with a giggle.
After Amity called Skara to say that she couldn't make it to her birthday party, the Blight soon made it home to Blight Manor and went to her room. But when she did, Edric and Emira were waiting for her. "Hey, Mittens," they greeted her in unison.
"What is it, you two," Amity asked her older siblings.
"We heard about what happened with Willow's whole thing earlier," Edric said.
"And we also know why you had to break things off with her in the first place," Emira added.
Amity sighed as she always knew that the twins overheard what was said at the party all those years ago. "That doesn't matter anymore," Amity told them. "I had help fixing Willow's memories and I told her about it after all this time."
Edric and Emira looked at each other in surprise, never anticipating Amity to do that. "Really," Emira asked.
"Yeah. It's a long story, but I thought that after what happened, she deserved to know," Amity replied.
"And how did she take it," asked Edric.
"She's at least giving me a second chance," Amity told the twins.
Hearing that, Edric and Emira smiled before they hugged their sister. "That's great to hear, Amity," Emira said.
"But you've usually been Mom and Dad's good girl. Hexside's Little Miss Perfect. What made you come clean and tell her," Edric asked.
Amity exhaled before she replied. "Luz said that I should have told the truth. And I... Well, I feel a bit better after I did that."
Hearing that Luz was the one to get Amity to come clean to Willow, the twins gave each other sly smiles. "Is that so? I'm surprised that she managed to get you to do that," Edric said.
"What's that supposed to mean," Amity questioned.
"Thanks to Mom, you can be pretty stubborn when it comes to some things," Emira said. "Your grades, your hobbies, your friendships. With Luz around this summer, I'm amazed she's been able to change you. Things are a bit more fun now since you aren't Mom's doll anymore."
"Just what are you getting at," Amity questioned, knowing the twins usually liked to mess with her. "Spit it out."
Looking at each other, the twins just smirked before joining in unison for a childish chant. "Mittens loves Luz~ Mittens loves Luz~ Mittens loves Luz~"
Hearing that, Amity blushed madly as she glared at Edric and Emira. "WHAT!?"
"You're always spending time with her," Edric stated.
"You've been blushing more around her," Emira added.
"You're helping with her schoolwork when you aren't at the library."
"Not to mention the toys from the carnival that she suggested you get."
"The book club you guys made."
"I'm surprised we haven't told everyone yet."
"Huh... must have slipped my mind."
After hearing enough of the twins speaking about her and Luz, Amity shook her head furiously. "I am not in love with Luz Noceda! We're just friends. She's just the first real one I've had in years," she told Ed and Em. "This isn't the subplot of one of my books. It's not like I lay awake at night thinking about her. And speaking of, it's been a long day and I need some sleep. Goodnight," she said to the twins before firmly closing her bedroom door.
The twins only chuckled. "Bet you lunch that she has it bad for her," Emira said to her brother.
"You're on," Edric said.
Overhearing them from behind her door, Amity grumbled. "I'm not in love with Luz. She's just a friend. She's just made my life better because I was so upset," she said to herself as she looked at the Espeon plush and Azura figure on her dresser. "She's a dork. She serves coffee while birds and cats sink claws into her. She's as energetic as a puppy, cuter than every kitten in the café, and smells like lemons. That doesn't mean anything, right?" Lying on her back, she looked at her ceiling and immediately realized something. Her brother and sister were right. She had a crush on Luz. "Uh-oh."
And with this, we've now finished my adaptation of "Understanding Willow". I hope you all like what I did for this. I certainly enjoyed how I got Willow to see Amity's memory, Luz reacting in anger at the memory of Odalia and Alador for this fic, and the end with the twins getting their sister to realize her crush on Luz. And with Amity getting a second chance from Willow, we'll have better interactions with them from now on. Especially since I feel like eventually having Luz and her friends all playing Dungeons and Dragons together eventually. But first, every Lumity fan's favorite Season 1 episode must be adapted. That right, everyone. Get ready for Grom.
Now, I'm sure you're all wondering how to handle the Grom Queen thing from canon. I've got plans for that involving not only Luz and Amity, but some other girls as well. I won't do a fear monster, but there's still going to be some conflict involving Luz and her mom. It'll be quite different than the show, but I promise you'll like it because of some stuff from Season 2.
I'm also considering making this fic longer than I thought because of several Season 2 plots I want to try adapting or just some original ideas for the characters to interact in. I'll figure out if I should when I get there, but if you've paid attention to the titles of the chapters, you'll see the spell a message as the show does in canon. I want to keep going with that idea while finishing this story.
Anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter. Leave a review/comment, follow if you haven't, and favorite the story if you enjoy it a lot. Until next time, WaterDragonMaverick signing out.